wen 3922

[red river]

I know that the Wen 3922 is a cheap item,but I am a hobbyist on a budget. I am hoping someone may know or have heard if it will hold in a pinless blade securely. It looks like they have changed blade holder configuration. I just hate to go through the hassle of buying it through Home Depot and then returning it... Anyone? Bueller?...Thanx

[harpolemond]

I bought a cheap Ryobi for using pinned blades for sanding. [neither of my good saws take pinned blades and neither will hold self made sanding strips that I make with cheap tape measure metal]
     So I needed a third saw for sanding.  Didn't work.  It was too cheap to sand with and ......
    it claimed it took non pinned blades, and it did but if I used non pinned blades I had to tighten the screws so hard on the blade I knew the screws would strip out very quickly.
     So is the Wen the same? I don't know so if I were you I would take a non pinned blade with you and try it out at the store.  Wouldn't buy oneline until I was sure or you may end up as I did....selling at a loss.

[KarlB]

I looked at the saw on Amazon (only a few dollars more) and it looks okay.  Regarding the pin less capacity it appears you have attachment blocks which hook onto the metal blade holders.  I would think the lower attachment may fall off when changing blades.  That's just what I see in the User's Guide available on the Amazon listing.

The ability to change the direction of the blade is an interesting feature.

Here is Steve's look at the saw in Dec. 2019 if you haven't seen it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HjJTt1qpL8

And here is his Blog post:  http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/12/fretwork-bird-scroll-saw-pattern-merry.html

Karl

[harpolemond]

I looked at the saw on Amazon (only a few dollars more) and it looks okay.  Regarding the pin less capacity it appears you have attachment blocks which hook onto the metal blade holders.  I would think the lower attachment may fall off when changing blades.  That's just what I see in the User's Guide available on the Amazon listing.

The ability to change the direction of the blade is an interesting feature.

Here is Steve's look at the saw in Dec. 2019 if you haven't seen it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HjJTt1qpL8

And here is his Blog post:  http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/12/fretwork-bird-scroll-saw-pattern-merry.html

Karl

   To KarlB:
   Thanks for the heads up on the Wen. I assumed it would be the same as the Ryobi which actually proved nearly impossible to use pinless blades for any length of time. Didn't know Steve had a video on the Wen but your link to it was very helpful for me.  I do not want to use home built pinless sanders with my Jet, and I do not wish to damage my blade holders on my Ex16 so I may get the Wen since it will take pinless and it does appear I can insert my homemade sanding blades in it.  So thank you again for the heads up and link  harpolemond